Millions of television viewers watched the Apollo 11 crew being picked up by US Navy Helicopter 66, a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King, after returning to Earth following their historic moon landing in July 1969. Te Helicopter 66 crew performed hoist recoveries for the astronauts of five Apollo missions following the splashdown of their spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean. Tose missions weren’t really over—and the astronauts weren’t safely home—until the helicopter crews completed their mission.